Urban population growth in Canada
Canada: Urban population growth was 1.2% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Urban population growth in Canada, 1961–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN). Measured in annual %.
Analysis
In 2025, urban population growth in Canada stood at 1.2%.
The figure is down 64.0% on the previous year and up 43.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, urban population growth in Canada peaked at 3.2% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 0.8%, in 2015.
That places Canada 116th out of 218 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 65 years of available data.
Urban population growth in Canada, year by year
| Year | annual % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 2.9% | — |
| 1962 | 2.9% | +0.1% |
| 1963 | 3.0% | +3.7% |
| 1964 | 3.1% | +1.0% |
| 1965 | 2.9% | -5.3% |
| 1966 | 2.8% | -4.0% |
| 1967 | 2.7% | -4.1% |
| 1968 | 2.5% | -6.5% |
| 1969 | 2.1% | -14.8% |
| 1970 | 1.9% | -9.4% |
| 1971 | 3.1% | +61.6% |
| 1972 | 1.1% | -65.7% |
| 1973 | 1.0% | -3.5% |
| 1974 | 1.2% | +13.9% |
| 1975 | 1.3% | +8.8% |
| 1976 | 1.3% | -2.6% |
| 1977 | 1.2% | -5.1% |
| 1978 | 1.0% | -12.7% |
| 1979 | 1.0% | +1.3% |
| 1980 | 1.4% | +29.9% |
| 1981 | 1.3% | -3.4% |
| 1982 | 1.3% | +1.8% |
| 1983 | 1.2% | -9.1% |
| 1984 | 1.2% | -2.1% |
| 1985 | 1.1% | -5.8% |
| 1986 | 1.1% | -1.4% |
| 1987 | 1.4% | +22.7% |
| 1988 | 1.3% | -2.8% |
| 1989 | 1.8% | +37.3% |
| 1990 | 1.5% | -15.4% |
| 1991 | 1.3% | -15.8% |
| 1992 | 1.4% | +5.6% |
| 1993 | 1.4% | +5.3% |
| 1994 | 1.5% | +5.0% |
| 1995 | 1.4% | -4.3% |
| 1996 | 1.4% | -4.9% |
| 1997 | 1.2% | -9.3% |
| 1998 | 1.1% | -15.1% |
| 1999 | 1.0% | -2.2% |
| 2000 | 1.2% | +12.7% |
| 2001 | 1.4% | +16.1% |
| 2002 | 1.4% | +4.1% |
| 2003 | 1.3% | -10.1% |
| 2004 | 1.3% | +3.3% |
| 2005 | 1.3% | -0.6% |
| 2006 | 1.3% | +1.1% |
| 2007 | 1.2% | -5.2% |
| 2008 | 1.4% | +8.7% |
| 2009 | 1.4% | +2.2% |
| 2010 | 1.3% | -6.3% |
| 2011 | 1.1% | -16.3% |
| 2012 | 1.1% | +5.1% |
| 2013 | 1.1% | -4.4% |
| 2014 | 1.0% | -5.2% |
| 2015 | 0.8% | -22.4% |
| 2016 | 1.2% | +49.3% |
| 2017 | 1.3% | +9.8% |
| 2018 | 1.6% | +22.6% |
| 2019 | 1.7% | +4.6% |
| 2020 | 1.3% | -20.3% |
| 2021 | 0.8% | -38.3% |
| 2022 | 2.0% | +146.8% |
| 2023 | 3.0% | +46.1% |
| 2024 | 3.2% | +6.7% |
| 2025 | 1.2% | -64.0% |
Canada compared with similar countries
- Canada's 1.2% is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.6%, 1.8× the median. (85 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Urban population growth in Canada changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | +146.8% | 0.8% | 2.0% |
| 1971 | +61.6% | 1.9% | 3.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 2.8% | 2.1% | 3.1% | 9 |
| 1970s | 1.4% | 1.0% | 3.1% | 10 |
| 1980s | 1.3% | 1.1% | 1.8% | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.3% | 1.0% | 1.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.3% | 1.2% | 1.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.2% | 0.8% | 1.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.9% | 0.8% | 3.2% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Canada
More climate change data for Canada
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Synthetic fertilizers (Agricultural) 2.27 billion kg (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) 44,359 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 9,631 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 34,728 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 36.34 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 1,240 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) 17,229 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 16,823 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 406.39 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 63.48 kt (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is urban population growth in Canada?
- Urban population growth in Canada was 1.2% in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest urban population growth recorded in Canada?
- The highest recorded value was 3.2% in 2024.
- What is the lowest urban population growth recorded in Canada?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.8% in 2015.
- How does Canada rank for urban population growth?
- Canada ranks 116th out of 218 countries with data for 2025.
- Is urban population growth rising or falling in Canada?
- Over the last ten years it is up 43.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Canada data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Urban population growth (annual %). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 65 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Annual urban population growth rate for year t is the exponential rate of growth of midyear urban population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage. Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated using World Bank total population estimates and urban ratios from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects.